The practice of peer-to-peer file sharing has reached a
crossroads and has the potential to take off as an increasingly
popular and vital method of sharing information. Or it could
collapse under the weight of its own controversy as lawyers and
politicians try to negotiate the intricacies of copyright
protections and the legality of certain file-sharing networks.

Innovation in file-sharing technology is
threatened by the recording industry’s stepped-up crackdown,
according to law Professor Larry Lessig, who spoke last week on a
panel with law Professor Deborah Rhode. Lessig expressed support
for loosening copyright rules for "private, non-commercial
ventures."Photo: L.A.
Cicero

That was the message put forward by law Professor Larry Lessig,
founder of Stanford's Center for Internet and Society, during a
panel last week on the ethics of peer-to-peer file sharing. Lessig
was joined on the panel by law Professor Deborah Rhode, founder of
the Stanford Center on Ethics.

File-sharing technology is expanding in creative and intriguing
ways that could allow an almost limitless ability to obtain and
manipulate just about any kind of electronic content and then
redistribute it. But that technology is threatened by the recording
industry's stepped-up efforts to crack down on illegal file-sharing
networks and individuals who engage in such practices, Lessig said.
He said the recording industry is engaged in a war of prohibition
with escalating penalties and has put too much emphasis on
stigmatizing those who engage in illegal downloads as
criminals.

"Should the legal system take the lead in shutting down this
kind of communication?" Lessig asked. "Historically, we have taken
this [kind of public debate] much more slowly and not labeled the
other side criminal."

An estimated 70 million people engage in online file sharing,
much of it illegal. Illegal downloading, mostly of music, took off
in the late 1990s with the popularity of file-sharing programs like
Napster and Kazaa. But the backlash has been intense, with the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) successfully suing
file-sharing networks and bringing much-publicized lawsuits against
individuals accused of illegal downloading.

By engaging in downloads that they know are illegal, many people
have made themselves magnets for the lawsuits, Lessig said. Rhode
cited a survey of 16- to 28-year-olds who engage in illegal
downloading that showed that although most were aware that they
were engaging in illegal behavior, only 16 percent considered their
actions morally wrong. She said her teenage nephew, when asked
about the subject, told her, "Well, there's illegal and then
there's illegal."

Within the past couple of years, the recording industry has
dedicated considerable resources to cracking down on file-sharing
networks and has filed suit against many large-scale and individual
programmers, prompting many to settle their cases rather than
engage in a costly legal battle against an opponent with deep
pockets, Lessig said. Some of the lawsuits would almost surely fail
a legal challenge, he said, but the intimidation factor has stifled
development of file-sharing techniques that could actually benefit
the recording industry.

"What is the RIAA doing aside from suing people?" Lessig asked.
"It's an industry organization trying to use the law to protect
themselves against competition."

Lessig said the industry should explore other kinds of
file-sharing platforms and models that would be easier for
consumers to use -- and pay for -- and that would also set up a
better structure for artists to receive a cut of the profits. He
cited a Harvard study that proposed a tracking system similar to
the Nielsen television ratings system that would make as much music
available at a cost to consumers and then pay artists based on
their popularity.

Lessig said copyright laws that were created more than 25 years
ago -- long before anyone had a sense of recent technological
advances that allow mass manipulation and redistribution of online
content -- are in dire need of an overhaul. He didn't advocate
doing away with copyright laws altogether, but he expressed support
for loosening up the rules to allow for "private, noncommercial
ventures."

"All of the great technologies coming out now are technologies
that will allow people to do stuff with your stuff," Lessig said.
"That's an extraordinary opportunity that we should allow our
culture to take. We wouldn't produce the same laws had we known
about the technological advances."